Red Sox notebook: Boston heads to cavernous Coors Field

It's like going from the bandstand in your local park to the Tweeter Center.

Bob Stern

It's like going from the bandstand in your local park to the Tweeter Center.

For years, Coors Field in Denver has been a hitter's paradise, a place where singles become triples, where routine fly balls become home runs.

And it will be the site of the next three games of the World Series.

"There are no quirks in the stadium," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "There's a lot of space, but if a guy can run, it doesn't matter. There's some room to cover. I don't know if that's something we're necessarily shook up about.

"I think it's a little tougher to come into Fenway Park because left field has got the wall. In Denver, you just need to run a little bit."

That fits into the Red Sox's plans. Whether Jacoby Ellsbury or Coco Crisp play center field, both are capable of chasing down balls in the gaps. Both are splendid fielders who run extremely well.

And when Ellsbury plays left for Manny Ramirez and Crisp plays center, it gets even better.

"When Ellsbury moves to left, that's about as good an outfield as you're ever going to see," Francona said. "Both (Crisp and Ellsbury) are athletic and they can cover some ground.

Coors Field is more than spacious; it's canyon like. The foul lines measure 347 feet to left and 350 to right. The gaps are 390 in left-center and 375 to right-center. Straightaway center is 415 feet.

Also, situated a mile above sea level, the ball travels about 9 percent farther. A 400-foot home run at Yankee Stadium would travel about 440 feet at Coors Field.

For that reasons, baseballs are stored in a humidor before the game to keep the score from resembling a football game.

"I think in the past the field would be a bigger obstacle," Francona said. "My first couple of years here, we had tendencies to run into trouble because we were big and slow. Now, I think in the outfield we're better suited.

"J.D. is out there, Coco or Jacoby, so I think we can cover some more ground. I don't think that will be an issue unless they're hitting 15 balls in the gap and they're running all day."

Batters hit .286 at Coors Field this year, first in the major leagues, compared to .279 at Fenway, which ranked fourth. The .459 slugging percentage at Coors also ranked first in baseball; it was .435 at Fenway, which tied for ninth.

"I think it's a much bigger adjustment (at Coors) for outfielders than infielders," said Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell. "There's a lot of room to roam there. It seems like their gaps are huge and the ball seems to carry just a little bit more than in other parks."

One has to sit

The Sox will be an obvious disadvantage when the series heads west Saturday because they won't be able to use the designated hitter.

That means either David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis or Mike Lowell will be on the bench.

"The reality of it is that two out of three will play, and it's really disappointing because we like it when all three of them play," Francona said. "They've all been mainstays in our lineup. They all do different things."

They've also been hot through 11 postseason games. Ortiz is hitting .417 with three home runs and eight RBI. Youkilis is hitting .422 with four home runs and 10 RBI. Lowell is hitting .333 with one home run and 11 RBI.

"David has some issues with his knee," Francona said. "That's certainly important and we have to at least pay attention to it. If we play Youkilis at third and Ortiz at first, we're playing two outs at out-of-play positions, which isn't real good either. There are some things we need to think about."

A little glimpse

Francona has always said Manny Ramirez's pregame routine is something special, and he provided a little glimpse of it Thursday.

Evidently, Ramirez has a hoop with four numbered Wiffleballs on it. The hoop will be tossed to him and a number called out. Ramirez will then catch the hoop by the numbered ball.

This says a lot of his concentration and recognition.

"I've watched him do it and I don't know how he does it," Francona said. "I don't know how anyone does it. That thing's spinning. I've marveled since I've been here how he does it."

Crisp still hurting

Crisp came into Wednesday night's game as a defensive replacement, but Francona said his center fielder is still in some pain.

"I thought he was a little sore," Francona said. "Looking at him run, I didn't think he was at top speed. I wanted to get him in there and get him an at-bat; I thought it was a good time to do it.

"Coco's always going to will himself to be a dynamic center fielder, even when he's not feeling so good. I thought he limped a little bit."

High ratings

FOX Sports' Game 1 rating was the best Game 1 rating since 2004. The game earned a 10.5/18 household rating/share, which translates into 16.9 million viewers.

That's a 31 percent increase over the rating and average attendance of last year's Game 1 between the Tigers and Cardinals.

The pregame coverage averaged 11.1/18. In adults 18-49, the game averaged a 5.9 rating, becoming the highest-rated Wednesday night show on any network since the “American Idol” finale in May.

Boston had a 50.4 rating and 70 share, 14 percent better than Game 1 of the 2004 World Series.

Odds and ends

Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Game 3 starter, flew to Denver before Thursday night's game. ... The winner of Game 1 has won the World Series 62 times and nine of the last 10. The exception was 2002 when San Francisco won Game 1 against Anaheim. ... David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez have reached base in 60 of 108 postseason plate appearances this postseason. ... Fifty teams have taken 2-0 leads in the World Series and 39 have won the championship. ... Curt Schilling became just the second pitcher over 40 to start and win a World Series game, joining Kenny Rogers who did it last year for Detroit. He's the fourth pitcher over 40 to win a World Series game.

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